Science

CDC Elevates Emergency To High Alert For Zika Virus Response

February 9th, 2016

In this Jan. 27, 2016, file photo, an Aedes aegypti mosquito is photographed through a microscope at the Fiocruz institute in Recife, Pernambuco state, Brazil.

FELIPE DANA / ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has elevated its emergency response to what it calls a Level 1 status, the highest level, to come up with a comprehensive response to the Zika virus outbreak.

‘All Hands On Deck’

CDC spokesperson Tom Skinner said the higher status means teams across the agency are studying the virus. A vector control team is working on a plan to control the mosquito population when the virus reaches the U.S. Another is developing better lab tests to diagnose Zika. Other teams are working on other aspects of the response, such as reaching out to state and local health departments to protect pregnant women.

“It’s all hands on deck. We pull from resources from throughout the agency,” Skinner said. “The [team lists] goes on and on. This allows us to pull all of these individuals together to surge our capacity to respond to this.”

Travel Warning

There are travel alerts for several Central and South American countries because of the outbreak. So far, 50 travel-related cases of Zika have been reported in the U.S., including one in Georgia. But Skinner says there have been no reports yet of local transmission of the virus.

However, he said, the CDC is getting ready for Zika’s arrival in the U.S.

Pregnancy Concerns

Skinner said the average person who catches Zika is expected to recover, but it is a big concern for pregnant women because it is possibly tied to microcephaly and other poor outcomes in pregnancy. It may also be associated with Guillain Barré syndrome in some people.

“What else can we learn about why this is affecting pregnant women the way it is, is something that we’re pulling out all the stops to better understand,” Skinner said. “As well as making sure we prepare the United States for the arrival of this virus and the fact that we are going to have some local transmission. What can we do to control the mosquitoes?”

The CDC’s Emergency Operations Center has only been on Level 1 status three other times since it was first formed in 2002: during last year’s Ebola outbreak, the swine flu outbreak in 2009 and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.